I think most people don’t care for the trust system. Unfortunately, I don’t think it will change any time soon seeing as how Blizzard barely pays attention to the forums.
1 Like
I just acquired the ability to post links for reasons that are beyond me, given I don’t meet the requirements I read to achieve trust level 3.
Maybe it’s actually rng and I lucked out!
Ironically the people who have as many posts and priviledges as you are usually the worst people posting things in threads. No offense.
3 Likes
It is not Blizzard that set up the Trust Level system. It is a core part of the forum software they bought. The company is called Discourse and they created the forum trust level system.
You can read more about it here
It requires visiting X number of days over 100 days, reading Y number of posts, and giving a few likes. That must be maintained over repeat time periods or it drops down to TL2.
Again, not something Blizzard set up. They don’t use forum metrics for anything so don’t need to “farm” us for engagement here.
5 Likes
I can’t even refute that 
2 Likes
I find this quite strange.
In January I made this topic:
it contains images.
I believe that from January until now, I’ve decreased the frequency of posts, but… that doesn’t even make sense because I still access the forum, I just haven’t accessed it as much lately as before, due to work, personal matters, etc…
they should review this.
I mean, the place is run like a crazy place.
People who say facts get muted / banned, because it’s disliked by certain people.
We run on Ranking systems, where some have Green “power” and others have yellow “power” (aka; They look more important), and most of them are promoted cause they run along the hallway created by the echo chamber of opinions in a certain direction.
TLDR
We’re doomed to forever have a bunch of crap, going round and round, and people feel divided and ignored.
I lost my right to post links and images for some arbitrary reason of some mods decision, who probably disagreed with what I was saying individually.
Its really dumb.
1 Like
Blizzard finally fixed a forum bug where if you were added to a certain Beta group, it gave you permanent TL3 on all characters on your account. That was not an intended group permission, as you might imagine.
Many people who did not realize that they had TL3 from there suddenly found themselves having to meet the normal forum criteria for it instead.
No, no they do not. The MOST another poster can do is cause a post to get greyed out (but clickable) until a Mod reviews it.
Any posts that are removed and any penalties are applied by real people because the person broke the forum Code of Conduct. There is no conspiracy by the Mods to ban people. People do need to pay attention to HOW they say things and avoid concern trolling, flame bait, picking fights, topics that are not WoW related, etc. Generally…just follow the rules and you can be quite critical of WoW - just say it constructively instead of insulting/etc.
One impact of having a suspension on the account, is that it removes TL3 and you can’t start earning it back for 6 months. It used to be perma, but they changed it to 6 months.
1 Like
So, let me see if I understand.
Blizzard didn’t create the trust system… but they themselves found a bug that allowed some people to post images.
In other words, they have control over it, regardless of it being a purchased system.
In the end, Blizzard has the power to decide who can post links/images and who can’t, and the system is strange to me because I posted images normally, created creative topics, was using it normally, didn’t make any mistakes, didn’t break any rules, and… simply now I can’t because apparently it was a bug… shouldn’t my history prove that I’m trustworthy and was using this “freedom” to create normal/creative topics ?
3 Likes
I did not explain the whole issue so that is my fault I guess.
The forum software has the ability to put people into “groups”. Those groups are units that have defined characteristics such as Trust Level permissions. The standard Trust Level system automatically puts people into trust level groups based on set criteria.
The forum software also has the ability to create groups manually, set up permissions on them, and put people into them. The error was that Blizzard manually set the Beta forum group to perma TL3 when it was not intended.
That is what the Trust system does. People who meet the criteria and do not get suspended, can earn TL3. It has to be maintained though and if people do not, they drop down to TL2 until they read more posts, toss out some likes, etc. It is not about posting, more about visiting and reading.
The previous Blizzard forum software prior to 2018 did not allow ANY links outside Blizzard’s websites for anyone. Only Blues could make clickable links to sites outside Blizzard. The current software is a step up for those who want to post images, and some websites are white listed at TL2 so you can still use them. I think Youtube for example is white listed.
i gave up caring abt the link stuff long ago. anyone can report u bc they hate u and poof, the ability is gone. you leave the game for a few months? gone. its too heavy handed which is quite odd. to even get it again you need like half a year or so…its crazy lol
like how bad were u guys in the old forums to have such restrictions? was it always like this?
3 Likes
I find this pretty bad, to be honest.
It might be a step forward considering the situation in 2018… but consider this situation:
I had level 3 access due to a beta access bug, used it decently, organized, without making toxic posts or breaking any rules… and suddenly they fixed the bug and I returned to “normal” level and simply lost all desire to continue creating topics or even responding.
Oh - In fact, I’m not saying this out of anger towards you or anything, okay? I even appreciate the information; it helped a lot to understand what happened.
There was no ability to post clickable links or images ever in the old software - ever. It was much much stricter. The “new” Discourse software is a lot more friendly to outside links with white listed sites and the ability to eventually post clickable links and images.
Check your preferences page and see what Trust Level you have.
If you aren’t TL3, then it’s probably Blizzard website, Wowhead or YouTube links you’re posting, which we can post at TL2.
And it can be changed.
System gets in the way imo. Certainly there’s easier ways of keeping bad actors from making a mess.
1 Like
Trust Levels should start at TL3 and all privileges associated with it as default. Then, if you act like an idiot, you lose the TL3 and now have to jump through hoops to get it back.
Not, I did nothing wrong, yet I have to do all this hoop jumping just to be able to post a picture and then spend my entire life on the forums so I won’t lose it.
2 Likes
They can change the limits for the automatic system based on forum activity. So say a forum gets very little traffic but they still want people to be able to earn TL3. They can lower the number of read post required, for example. They do that on the D3 forums, and a few others that are low traffic.
They can’t just gut the software and remove the trust system though. They would have to ask Discourse to remove it if they wanted it stripped out. I mean they could. We could go back to not having any images or clickable links at all.
Sometimes I think that would be easier than listening to people grouse about it.
I am sorry, but that lets people who wants to spam bad things that break the rules, post malicious clickable links, etc run wild until caught. That can result in actual harm to users if they click bad links with malware or phishing sites.
Blizzard will either go back to nobody having the ability to make links/post images, or keep the current system.
I never said it needed gutting. But they can absolutely change it to keep TL3 once earned or lower the requirements to keep it.
We grind rep in game. No one wants to both grind rep and then maintain it weekly on a forum.
7 Likes
They changed something about it. I’m on the forums all the time, and I lost it too.
Ok, they can go back to having the old system where nobody can post images or clickable links.
Be careful what you wish for, you might get it.
1 Like